I'm Old, Christmasy, and Whooowie!
December 15, 2014
Merryyy Christmas!!!!!
It's official, I am black. Monday night, Sister Bedke and I visited a former investigator recovering from a stroke in the nearby hospital. In the waiting room we met his family, who were as black and "put yo hands togethah en shou perAISes!!" as it gets. That was probably the funnest thirty minutes of my life. I sang I am a Child of God (with ample Amens and Mmmhmms and Oh, yees!'s as accompaniment), we clapped in praise, and they danced with us (literally!) to the elevator when we left. Sister Bedke and I melted in the elevator with sighs of happiness and laughter as soon as the doors closed. The next night, our investigator Lyssa said to us and her (black) grandmother, "All y'all black women need to pull it together!"
"But--" we started to say.
"Nuh uh. All y'all are black." she retorted.
My life is complete. I left on my mission claiming I was sent to the south to release my inner black woman. She's been unleashed. Whooowie!
Sister Porter, my new companion, is a bundle of joy! She's from Richland, Washington, the youngest of three, and probably the bubbliest. She has a huge smile, peppy attitude, a great listening ear and a talent for making people feel special. We're getting to be good friends. I am so lucky to be companions with her!
We've made tracting a higher priority between appointments, and we found two new investigators, Toni and Renee, as a result! They both live in the same apartment building. Toni is a black, smiley, older woman, and she loved hearing about the Book of Mormon. Renee is in her fifties, works at Walmart, and believes in Christ but barely knows anything about Christ. We taught her and her college-age son Rovae the first lesson, and they soaked it up like sponges! Rovae moved back up to school in Ohio, but I am thrilled with Renee's progress. She may have a baptismal date later this week!
Speaking of a baptismal date, our investigator Kaylee has one-- for January 17th! She lives in a small duplex with the three youngest of her five children, all under the age of six. We invited her to come to church, and she accepted our offer to meet at her house so she could follow us there. When we arrived Sunday morning, we were pleasantly shocked! Kaylee, who usually wears pajamas and is rather undone, was beautifully dressed in a pink blazer, matching skirt, with her hair done, all ready for church. It turned out she already knew about five members in the ward! I am so excited for Kaylee.
I had a couple other notable experiences:
#1 I apparently had a huge cockroach on my shoulder during an appointment (which Sister Porter didn't tell me till after we left, probably for the best). Yuck! At least I didn't know. Ignorance is bliss.
#2 I got to do hair and makeup for a bride! A neighboring set of sisters' investigator, Brandi, got married and baptized the same week, so I was called upon to do her hair. I thoroughly enjoyed getting my creativity working again. :)
#3 Sister Porter and I sang "O Holy Night" acapella, as a duet, for the Ward Christmas Party! It went beautifully. Sister Porter was a champ for jumping in to do a solo two days after she got transferred here.
I also went to MLC (Mission Leadership Council), which is like a Zone Conference for zone and sister training leaders. It was inspiring! One of my take-aways was this quote: "All the blessings come in the second mile." As I've adjusted to Athens and my calling as a Sister Training Leader for the last transfer, I feel like I've done my best to maintain the good already happening in the area. But I feel that now I have some roots growing, I can put more me into it and start walking the second mile. When I walked into the church yesterday, I took a mental snapshot as we walked in with Kaylee past the picture of Christ where we'd taken pictures with Dimple at her baptism. I get to be a part of so many miracles here. What a gift to be serving a mission!
My birthday was great, too. Thank you for the cards, gifts, and love!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Sister Taylor